Czech Republic Factbook

The Czech Republic is part of the former Czechoslovakia. It now enjoys freedom after years of harsh repression under communism. Unfortunately, the church has had little impact on this land since the Communist government fell.

The Czech Republic is located in central Europe. It borders on Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria. The terrain is a mixture of rolling plains, hills, and low mountains. The population of the Czech Republic is just over 10 million. Nearly all of the people are of natives of the land and are of Slavic origin.

Although the Czech Republic is industrialized, the economy suffered greatly under communism. Significant foreign investment in the mid-1990's gave the economy a jump start. It is one of the most stable and prosperous former communist states in Europe.

After being part of both the Holy Roman and Austro-Hungarian empires in centuries past, Czechoslovakia became an independent nation at the end of World War I. Their freedom ended with German occupation just prior to World War II. Shortly after the war, a Soviet supported coup brought communism to power.

In the 1960's many Czech's protested against communism. Those protests and concessions on the part of the Czech government were halted by a brutal Soviet led invasion in 1968. The communist government finally fell in 1989, and Czechoslovakia was peacefully split into two nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic government has sought EC and NATO membership.

The people have enjoyed freedom of religion since the fall of Communism. The church suffered greatly under the Communists. The government was particularly successful in infiltrating churches, and many Christian leaders felt compelled to compromise. These events have created a general sense of mistrust of the church among the public. Pray that the scars of this period would fully heal.

Czechoslovakia was traditionally Roman Catholic. Nearly 100% of the population was Catholic in 1900. Today, that number has fallen to 35%. Over 45% of the population is classified as Atheist and continues to grow. Evangelicals make up about 1% and their number are slowly falling.

There is much nominalism in the churches. Few Catholics or Protestants actually attend church. Although there is freedom to evangelize, the opportunity has been underutilized. Many more missionaries could be used to preach in this land. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would raise up sowers and reapers for the Czech Republic.

In the churches, adequately trained pastors are in short supply as are opportunities for education. Pray for both more men and more good Bible schools.

Production of Christian literature is increasing but more is still needed. The people are highly literate. Pray for more opportunities to use Christian literature to evangelize and equip believers.

Copyright 2006 by Brad Garrison

Return